Almost four in ten people believe Jeremy Corbyn is anti-Semitics after a summer-long row over vile abuse in the Labour Party.

The Labour leader was blighted by a series of archive recordings of his own remarks as a backbencher and a refusal for months not to adopt the full international definition of anti-Semitism.

Party officials bowed to pressure over the definition in September but the new polling data suggests the row may have had a long term impact.

Jeremy Corbyn (pictured today at PMQs) was blighted by a series of archive recordings of his own remarks as a backbencher and a refusal for months not to adopt the full international definition of anti-Semitism

Almost four in ten people believe Jeremy Corbyn is anti-Semitics after a summer-long row over vile abuse in the Labour Party, a new poll shows (pictured)

The survey was carried out by Populus on on behalf of Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM).

It found 38 per cent believe Mr Corbyn to be an anti-Semite while a quarter believe he is a 'committed campaigner against racism of all kinds, including anti-Semitism'.

The poll did not ask similar questions about other political leaders - prompting Labour sources to warn it 'calls into question the independence of this poll and BICOM's intentions in commissioning it'.

BICOM chief executive James Sorene insisted the two options reflected the summer-long fight over anti-Semitism.

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He told the Jewish Chronicle: 'If you have a poll where you ask something about Jeremy Corbyn, there's a base of his support, which you would expect, potentially, to go up into the 30s.

'I was surprised how low the support for him was in the polls. The fact that he could only muster 25 per cent and 19 per cent shows that even his own loyalists and his own base don't quite believe his explanations.'

He added: 'We throw in a topical question each year. It is my experience over the summer with this problem he faced [Wreathgate], and he was explaining it away.

'I wanted to know how many people were buying this argument, or following the argument of his critics. We are a research centre, and I wanted to see it.

Mr Corbyn faced fury over anti-Semitism with Jewish MP Luciana Berger leading a major demonstration to say 'enough is enough' (pictured)

'The questions were designed to measure [Mr Corbyn's] own excuses, versus what people are throwing at him. It's to force people to choose either one or the other, or to say they don't know.'

Tory MP Michael Fabricant seized on the poll to condemn the Labour leader.

He tweeted: '38 per cent of Brits believe Jeremy Corbyn is an anti-Semite. What an indictment.

'I suspect if his own backbenchers were polled, it would be higher.'

A Labour Party spokesman said: 'Jeremy has a long and principled record of solidarity with the Palestinian people and engaging with actors in the conflict to support peace and justice in the Middle East, for a secure Israel and a viable and secure Palestinian state.